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The Lutheran Church "God does not guide me; He pushes me forward, He carries me away. I am not master of myself. I desire to live in repose, but I am thrown into the midst of tumults and revolutions." These were the dynamic words of the great reformer Martin Luther spoken a few years after the opening of the Reformation. The founder of Lutheranism did not want to start a new denomination; he was merely seeking truth. But he had what men wanted; he was God's man of the hour. His teachings of justification by faith and of the universal priesthood of believers might very easily be called the cornerstone of Protestantism. Great Churches of America, Kenneth J. Holland Why a Lutheran church? (Evangelical Lutheran Church of America) Martin Luther (b. November 10, 1483, in Eisleben, Germany, d. February 18, 1546 in Eisleben) is known as the Father of Protestantism. He had studied to become a lawyer before becoming an Augustinian monk in 1505, and was ordained a priest in 1507. While continuing his studies in pursuit of a Doctor of Theology degree, he discovered significant differences between what he read in the Bible and the theology and practices of the church. On October 31, 1517, he posted a challenge on the church door at Wittenberg University to debate 95 theological issues. Luther's hope was that the church would reform its practice and preaching to be more consistent with the Word of God as contained in the Bible. What started as an academic debate escalated to a religious war, fueled by fiery temperaments and violent language on both sides. As a result, there was not a reformation of the church but a separation. "Lutheran" was a name applied to Luther and his followers as an insult but adopted as a badge of honor by them instead. Lutherans still celebrate the Reformation on October 31 and still hold to the basic principles of theology and practice espoused by Luther, such as Sola Gratia, Sola Fide, Sola Scriptura: We are saved by the grace of God alone -- not by anything we do; Our salvation is through faith alone -- we only need to believe that our sins are forgiven for Christ's sake, who died to redeem us; The Bible is the only norm of doctrine and life -- the only true standard by which teachings and doctrines are to be judged. Another of Luther's principles was that Scriptures and worship need to be done in the language of the people. Many Lutherans still consider themselves as a reforming movement within the Church catholic, rather than a separatist movement, and Lutherans have engaged in ecumenical dialogue with other church bodies for decades. Luther's Small Catechism, which contains teachings on the Ten Commandments, the Apostles' Creed, the Lord's Prayer, Holy Baptism, Confession and Absolution, Holy Communion and Morning and Evening Prayers, is still used to introduce people to the Lutheran faith, as is the Augsburg Confession. These and other Lutheran confessional documents included in the Book of Concord may be ordered from the ELCA Publishing House at 800/328-4648 The Confession of Faith of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Here follows the official text as it appears in the Constitution of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. 1.This church confesses the Triune God, Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit. Official Website of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is: Http://www.elca.org/ Overview (The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod With the universal Christian Church, The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod teaches and responds to the love of the Triune God: the Father, creator of all that exists; Jesus Christ, the Son, who became human to suffer and die for the sins of all human beings and to rise to life again in the ultimate victory over death and Satan; and the Holy Spirit, who creates faith through God's Word and Sacraments. The three persons of the Trinity are coequal and coeternal, one God. Being "Lutheran," our congregations accept and
teach Bible-based teachings of Martin Luther that inspired the
reformation of the Christian Church in the 16th century. The
teaching of Luther and the reformers can be summarized in three
short phrases: Grace alone, Scripture alone, Faith Grace alone Scripture alone
The word "Synod" in The Lutheran Church--Missouri
Synod comes from the Greek words that mean "walking together."
It has rich meaning in our church body,because the congregations
voluntarily choose to belong to the Synod. Diverse in their service,
these congregations hold to a shared The congregations of the Synod are "confessional."
They hold to the Lutheran Confessions as the correct interpretation
and presentation of Biblical doctrine. Contained in The Book
of Concord: The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church,
these statements of belief were put into writing by church leaders
during the 16th century. (The simplest of these is Luther's Small
Catechism. The Augsburg Confession gives more detail on what
Lutherans believe. Links to the full text of all the Adapted from A Week in the Life of The Lutheran Church--Missouri
Synod, The Official Website of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod is: Http://www.lcms.org/ Lutheran Confessions The Three Ecumenical Creeds These texts are in the public domain and may be copied
and distributed freely. The
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (as described by the Encyclopaedia Britannica) The (ELCA), the largest Lutheran church in North America. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America was formed in 1988 by the merger of two major Lutheran denominations, the American Lutheran Church and the Lutheran Church in America, along with the much smaller Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches. The new church cut across ethnic lines and was designed to give Lutherans a more coherent voice in ecumenical discussions with other Christian churches in the United States. At its founding the church had more than 5,000,000 members and comprised about two-thirds of the Lutherans in the United States. Its headquarters is in Chicago. The constituent churches that formed the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America had themselves a long history of growth, mergers,
and consolidations. The Lutheran Church in America, for example,
was created in 1962 by the merger of four Lutheran churches.
The four were the American Evangelical Lutheran Church, the Augustana
Evangelical Lutheran Church, the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran
Church (Suomi Synod; organized by Finnish immigrants in 1890),
and the United Lutheran Church Lutheran immigrants to the United States in the 17th and 18th centuries organized congregations that combined in various synodical organizations. In 1820 several of them met to draw up a constitution for a confederation to be known as the General Synod. As Lutheranism expanded, additional synods were formed, and by 1860 the General Synod had a membership of about 164,000, or two-thirds of the Lutherans in the United States. Cooperative efforts were limited, however, by the slavery question and the American Civil War, which caused the Southern synods to leave the General Synod and establish their own General Synod in 1863. Further disruption was caused by controversy over the Lutheran confessions. Some of the more conservative synods left the General Synod in 1866 and organized in 1867 the General Council, a federation of 11 synods that accepted the Unaltered Augsburg Confession. Animosities among the three groups gradually subsided, and cooperative activities increased. In 1917 a joint committee of the three general synods, meeting to plan a 400th anniversary celebration of the Reformation, also took up the possibility of organizing a United Lutheran Church in America (ULCA). To this end, a constitution was prepared and accepted in 1918 by all three groups. The Augustana Synod left the General Council, however, and refused to enter the union. From the time of its founding the ULCA worked for the union of all Lutheran groups in the United States and cooperated with other Lutherans and with ecumenical groups, such as the World Council of Churches. In 1962 it merged with the three other Lutheran groups to form the Lutheran Church in America. The American Lutheran Church also arose from various mergers. It was created in 1961 by the merger of three churches: the (original) American Lutheran Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church, and the United Evangelical Lutheran Church. On Feb. 1, 1963, the ALC was joined by the Lutheran Free Church (organized in 1897 by a group that left the United Norwegian Lutheran Church). The original American Lutheran Church (1930-60) had been organized in Toledo, Ohio, by the merger of three Lutheran synods composed primarily of members of German descent. These were (1) the Evangelical Lutheran Joint Synod of Ohio and Other States, organized in 1818; (2) the Lutheran Synod of Buffalo, organized in 1845 in Milwaukee, Wis., by German immigrants settled primarily around Buffalo, N.Y., and Milwaukee, who began leaving Prussia in 1838 because they refused to take part in a union of Lutheran and Reformed churches ordered by the King of Prussia in 1817; and (3) the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Iowa and Other States, organized in 1854 in Iowa by Lutheran missionary pastors from Germany who wished to serve the German immigrants in the Middle West. The Evangelical Lutheran Church was organized in the United States in 1917 as the Norwegian Lutheran Church by the merger of three synods composed of members of Norwegian descent. The United Evangelical Lutheran Church originated in 1896 in Minneapolis, Minn., from the merger of two American churches whose members were largely of Danish descent. After years of discussions with the United Lutheran Church in America and the Lutheran church-Missouri Synod, the American Lutheran Church merged with the Evangelical Lutheran Church and the United Evangelical Lutheran Church to form the American Lutheran Church. The Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches began in 1976 when a group of ecumenical-minded church leaders broke away from the relatively conservative Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod to form their own association. To cite this page: Copyright © 1994-2000 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. What about . . . The Differences Between the ELCA and the LCMS A. L. Barry, President, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod August 1997 will be long remembered as an important time
in the Furthermore, the ELCA decided that the long-standing differences These decisions have caused considerable confusion within
the The LCMS has a tremendous opportunity to make it very clear, Our Difference Over the Bible The LCMS and the ELCA disagree about the nature and authority The LCMS believes that the Bible is actually the Word of
God, and It holds that Scripture is not necessarily always accurate
or The LCMS unequivocally teaches that homosexual behavior
is While there are other examples, these three serve to make
the Our differences over the authority of the Lutheran Our two churches also disagree about the authority of the
historic The ELCA, on the other hand, does not require that its
church Our differences over what is necessary for church Given its approach to the Holy Scriptures and the Lutheran The LCMS believes that the Bible requires full agreement
in A good example of this attitude is found in the documents
the What this means is that the ELCA is willing to tolerate
the The ELCA's attitude toward doctrine obscures the vital An opportunity for faithful clarity All Lutherans have a wonderful opportunity to wrestle with
the The differences between our two churches are a source of
great
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